Boalanle Aishat Akinwande

Bolanle Aishat Akinwande is a Professor of Food Science at Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Nigeria and a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Food Science and Technology. Her research interest is on value addition to underutilized indigenous functional crops for health and wealth initiatives. She was a post-Doctoral fellow and a mentor of African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) in 2011 and 2014, respectively. She has mentored several young researchers and academia at formal and informal levels. Among others, Bolanle led a multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional project sponsored by World Bank, and with community engagements to advance the cause of the rural dwellers.

Bolanle became the Board Adviser for African Food Research Network (AfREN) in 2021. She is currently the Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Nigerian Food Journal, (journal of Nigerian Institute of Food Science and Technology - NIFST), the Deputy Chairman of the Body of Fellows of NIFST, Chairperson of the Western Chapter of NIFST and pioneer Head, Curriculum Faculty of NIFST Academy for standards, control and approval.

Bolanle is an alumna of DIES (Dialogue on Innovative Higher Education Strategies) with training on Internal Quality Assurance (IQA) in Anglophone West Africa (2014-2016). She developed blueprint for the establishment and implementation of IQA for her University and subsequently became the pioneer Director of the University Quality Assurance Unit (2016-2019). She was a team member and a Trainer of Nigeria and Gambia cohorts of DIES National Multiplication Trainings in 2019-2020 and 2021-2022, respectively. She was a consultant for 2020-2021 TrainIQA course in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.

Bolanle has Diploma in Agribusiness and Post-Harvest Management from Galilee International Management Institute, Nahalal, Israel (2012) and a certificate in Internal Quality Assurance in Higher Education Institutions from Centre for Higher Education Development and Quality Enhancement of University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany (2016). She was a member of the 3-man committee that wrote a template on ‘Education for the Development of Oyo State’, Nigeria in 2019. As the Director of Academic Planning of her University (2021-2025), she was the Chairperson of the Committee of Directors of Academic Planning of Nigerian Universities (2022-2025).